Rayon and like spinning machines



W. HARTLEY RAYON AND LIKE SPINNING MACHINES Jan. 4, 14.

Filed June 14, 1.947

\NHLTER HARTLEY w. JW nTToRNE! Patented Jan. 4, 1949 UNITED RAYON AND LIKE SPINNING MACHINES Walter Hartley, Radclifie, England Application June 14, 1947, Serial No. 754,638 In Great Britain July 27, 1946 6 Claims.

This invention has reference to rayon and like spinning machines of the well known kind in which pots, into which the filament is led and spun into cakes, are mounted on the tops of vertical spindles, each of which is rotated by its own electric motor.

Machines of this kind have both their advantages and their disadvantages, and it is the object of this invention to eliminate some of the latter, whereby a better and more-satisfactory machine is provided which will be more efficient generally, and will spin better yarn. This ultimate aim of the invention is attained by making improvements in the construction of the machine in certain main or primary features which have other improvements consequent upon them.

The invention thus has for its immediate objects to provide a mounting for the motor and spinning pot which will allow much higher spinning speeds to be 'used than are now possible, which will eliminate wobble of the pot when running at such high speeds, and thus greatly reduce the danger of the pots bursting under centrifugal force, which can be more easily mounted and dismounted than at present, thus reducing the labour and dirt inherent in the present system of mounting, and which will consequently allow a lower built machine to be made, thus eliminating the need for the present platforms or staging at the sides of the machine which have to be used owing to the height of the machines above the fioor level.

' According to this invention, in a machine of the kind referred to, for rayon and like spinning, a circular container is provided having at one end a-diameter sufficient to allow the spinning pot to be inserted and removed easily, and which encloses the pot, the spindle for rotating the pot entering this part of the container through a central hole in the bottom, below which bottom is the lower part of the container of less diameter than the top part, and in which the motor is housed so that its weight is low down, the whole unit being supported on the machine by a flexible mounting at the bottom of its wider part, so that the pots when rotating will have greater stability, and will always assume their gyroscopic centre.

The invention is more particularly set forth with reference to the accompanying drawing, which shows a container according to this invention in vertical section.

As shown in the drawing a circular container is made having a top part I, of slightly greater diameter than the pot 2, but sufficiently larger than the pot 2 to allow it to be easily put in and taken out; this container is provided with a lid 3 which thus completely encloses the pot. The bottom 4 of the top part I of the container has a central opening 5 through which projects the spindle 6 on which the pot 2 is mounted. Below the top part I of this container, and secured to it so that the whole can be moved together, is a lower part I, of less diameter than the top part I, and on the bottom 8 of this, the motor 9 is mounted with its spindle 6 passing upward into the larger part I above.

This construction provides a flange ID at the place where the parts I and I of differing diameters meet, and circular opening II is provided in the frame l2 of the machine, through which the narrower and lower part 'I of the container can pass when put in from the top, but which will form a support for the top and wider part I. Hitherto it has been necessary, when mounting a motor such as 9 on the machine, to go under the machine and lift the motor into position and hold it there while it is secured, which, as will readily be understood, is a dangerous and very dirty operation, and necessitates building the machine sufficiently high to allow a man to get under and do the work, thus in turn resulting in the need for platforms or staging at the sides of the machine so that the spinning can be properly supervised.

The flange ID on which the whole unit rests on the machine is provided with a mounting on its underside, which may be termed flexible and may be constituted by a flexible ring of rubber l3, or other mounting to give a gimbal or universal mounting; whatever actual form the mounting takes, it must be such that when the pot is spinning it will be permitted and assisted by the mounting to take up its gryroscopic centre, and it has been found that a pot mounted in this manner, it deliberately knocked off its gyroscopic centre, will at once regain it and run with complete steadiness.

In the construction shown, the rubber ring l3 rests on a complementary flexible support, such as another rubber ring M on its frame [2, but this lower support may not always be used, as the ring l3 or equivalent part can rest on the frame l2. The centre of gravity of the whole is so disposed that this steadiness and balance will be kept, irrespective of the size of the cake in the pot 2, so that a full pot will be as steady as an empty one, and the weight of the cake in building up will not throw the balance out.

The form of mounting used, may, as already in the tongue and groove between the rings l3 and l w It will be appreciated that there will be some heat radiated from the motor which will heat the air surrounding the motor in the container, and this hot air will rise into the higher part I of the container, and thus maintain or help to maintain, an even temperature around the pot '2, and prevent, or at all events reduce, the formation of sodium sulphate crystals onand about the pot, which at present is a common source of trouble. v I

The top part I of the container in which the pot 2 spins is only sufliciently larger than the pot to allow it to be put in and taken out easily, and only a small annular space is left around the pot, and in this space there are no eddy currents to act as a drag on the pot and retard its rotation, consequently it is found that less power is needed to rotate the pots than is reto that part ofsaid container in which the pot is mounted, a central hole in said bottom, a lower part of said circular container and of less diameter than said part containing the pot, an electrio motor housed'in said lower narrower part, a spindle on said motor passing through said hole in said bottom and on which the pot is mounted to rotate, a flexible mounting on the underside of said bottom and external of said narrower part, the machine frame having a circular wall forming an opening for receiving the lower part of the container and said flexible mounting resting on the top of said wall thereby to support the entire container and its contents.

2. In a machine for rayon and like pot. spinning a circular container made in two parts, one being of less diameter than the other and axially aligned, the wide part accommodating the spinning pot and the narrower part below it accommodating the motor for driving the pot, a bottom to said wider top part constituting the top of said lower part, a motor in said lower part, a spindle on said motor passing upward through said bottom on which spindle the pot is mounted, said bottom extending outwardly beyond saidnarthe pot at the top and of less diameter below where the motor is housed, a bottom member to said wider part extending beyond said lower narrower part as a flange, a rubber ring on the under-- side of said flange, the machine frame having a circular opening for the reception of said lower part, and said rubber ring resting on the'frame around said opening thereby flexibly to support the weight of said container and contents on said machine when passed downward into, said opening.

4. In a machine for rayon and like pot spinning a circular container for the pot and the motor, the part containing the pot being of greater diameter than the part containing the motor below, a bottom extending outward at the lower end of said wider top part, a flexible mounting on said extending portion to rest on the frame of the machine and to provide a flexible mounting for said container and its contents.

5. In a'machine for rayon and like pot spinning a circular container for the pot and the motor, the part containing the pot being of greater diameter than the lower part containing the motor, the machine frame having a circular wall forming an opening on the top edge of which the container and its contents are supported whereby the container can be-inserted and removed from the frame only from above.

6. In a machine for rayon and like pot spinning a circular container for the pot and the motor used for rotating the pot, said container being of greater diameter at the top part than below it, said container being mounted in the frame of the machine from above, the machine frame having a circular wall forming an opening for the reception of the lower part of the container, and said wider part of said container resting at its bottom on the top edge of said wall, and a flexible mounting between said container and. said frame, to maintain the spindle of said motor and said pot on a vertical axis when spinning.

WALTER HARTLEY.

No references cited. 

